You Have Been Invited to the Auction House of the Gods - Chapter 75

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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75

 

 

 

Kwaaaaang—!

 

Dominating pressure burst forth, causing the rooftop floor to collapse layer by layer.

 

Starting from the rooftop, the entire building shook as a chain collapse began.

 

“…!”

 

I steadied myself and kicked off from the floor.

 

Barely maintaining my balance, I looked down to see the department store helplessly collapsing.

 

Only after about half of it had crumbled did the collapse finally stop.

 

‘…It stopped.’

 

People’s screams could be heard from within the dust clouds.

 

Thanks to Aegis’s protective barrier, people weren’t swept away and were able to safely settle on the middle floor.

 

“Hyung-niiim…”

 

Kim Jin-woo called out to me in a half-sobbing voice.

 

Why did he suddenly have to summon me like this.

 

In Kim Jin-woo’s hand was the string bracelet I had given him, now broken.

 

A bracelet that summons a designated being when broken.

 

‘Tsk, the effect is certain but it’s too expensive for a one-time use item.’

 

It was a bracelet worth ten thousand gold in Golden Fragrance, about 100 million won in cash.

 

I could certainly understand this was an urgent situation that warranted summoning me like this.

 

And for good reason…

 

I turned my body and swung Galmu upward.

 

With a clang, the rampaging Hunter’s sword and Galmu collided.

 

“With a guy like this around, breaking the bracelet was justified.”

 

A face twisted pale with madness.

His eyes had already rolled back, showing only the whites flickering.

 

I infused dominating pressure into my toes and kicked his abdomen.

 

With the sound of breaking, the rampaging Hunter was sent flying at high speed.

 

He crashed into building debris for quite a while before finally coming to a stop.

 

The Hunter’s face was expressionless as he staggered to his feet.

 

Despite the clear sound of breaking, he seemed to feel no pain and began gathering his energy again.

 

‘Wait… that energy is?’

 

The eerie energy the rampaging Hunter was emanating.

 

It was all too familiar.

 

It was something no living person should be able to accept.

 

“You… why are you harboring ghostly energy?”

 

But he seemed to have no intention of answering, swinging his sword wide as he charged at me.

 

Unable to sense the difference in our strength, the Hunter’s charge showed no hesitation.

 

Thinking I needed to subdue him first, I infused karmic fire into my fist and swung.

 

“It’s useless…”

 

Just before my fist and his sword collided, the Hunter dropped his blade and passed by me.

 

“What the…”

 

I could tell what he was thinking by looking at where he was headed.

 

The Aegis suspended on the middle floor.

 

His gaze was directed at the people inside Aegis.

 

He body-slammed into Aegis with all his might.

 

Crack.

 

A sound that shouldn’t come from a human body rang out.

 

Was his reckless charge, unafraid even of compound fractures, effective?

 

The already precariously suspended Aegis fell straight down outside the building.

 

As it fell, Han Jia and Kim Jin-woo looked at me with pitiful expressions.

 

I smiled as if nothing surprised me at all.

 

As if there was nothing to worry about.

 

I’m not sure if it was a smile or a smirk.

 

My waist bent like a bowstring.

 

Then, using the recoil, I drove my fist straight into the face of the springing Rampaging Hunter.

 

Bang!

Bang! Bang!

 

The Hunter was slammed straight into the building’s floor.

 

And from that impact, about three more floors collapsed.

 

But there was no problem.

 

I had already confirmed through Ki Sense that no one remained in the department store building.

 

I grabbed the Rampaging Hunter by the scruff of his neck and stuck my head out of the building.

 

“See, you really get what you pay for.”

 

The citizens were safe.

 

Translucent wings had sprouted around the falling Aegis.

They were creating wind currents as it slowly glided down to the surface.

 

On the ground, dispatched Hunter Association staff were controlling the crowd,

and Aegis landed safely in the space they had created.

 

Through the dissolving Aegis, Han Jia and Kim Jin-woo were looking at me with resentful eyes.

 

***

 

Even before the scene cleanup was finished, I headed to a remote island with the Association President.

 

A remote island located somewhere in the West Sea.

 

It was a prison and interrogation room that the Association President had newly prepared.

 

The first impression was, straightforwardly, ‘a fortress where escape was unthinkable.’

 

Setting aside the dozens of meters of sheer cliffs, it looked difficult not just to get out, but even to get in.

 

There was no dock or helipad.

The only way in and out was through a magic circle carved alone on top of the island.

 

Since only the Association President knew the coordinates, it seemed impossible for anyone to intrude carelessly unless they were exceptionally brave.

 

Even if someone knew the coordinates, if they could break through all those interference spells to get in, that would be unavoidable.

 

With that level of skill, it would have been breached eventually anyway.

 

We took the elevator and descended deep underground into the building.

 

‘He must be really pissed off.’

 

It seemed the incident with Nokchung’s Raid Leader had thoroughly gotten on the Association President’s nerves.

 

Everywhere we went, high-level magic was carved into the building walls.

 

At this level, even an S-rank Hunter specializing in magic would have quite a hard time escaping after infiltrating.

 

Could they escape before the Association President came charging in?

 

Since it hadn’t been built long ago, the facilities were generally modern throughout.

 

However, that cutting-edge interior was rather bizarrely twisting the prison atmosphere.

 

The inside of the prison we arrived at under the Association President’s guidance was the complete opposite of the corridor.

 

Though it clearly hadn’t been built long ago, it was considerably deteriorated.

 

Torches hung instead of electric lights, and terrifyingly shaped tools were lined up on display.

 

And at the center, the Hunter who had rampaged was bound to a chair with an eye mask covering his eyes.

 

“I can’t build a hotel with the latest facilities for a criminal bastard.”

 

The Association President, noticing my gaze, spoke first.

 

“Don’t worry. I only plan to imprison confirmed criminals.”

 

I nodded briefly and walked toward the bound man.

 

His identity, which I checked by opening the tablet, showed no particular problems.

 

“Name: Yoo Seong-ho. Re-Awakened from C-rank to A-rank five days ago.”

 

Every time I recited his personal information, Yoo Seong-ho flinched.

 

It was a completely different appearance from when he was raging in the department store.

 

His face was pale and haggard, and his once-sturdy body had withered enough to show his ribs.

 

He was trembling his hands habitually, and his lips were blue, dry, and cracked.

 

‘Withdrawal symptoms?’

 

“Will you be conducting the interrogation yourself?”

 

“No.”

 

I shook my head at the Association President’s words.

 

“The interrogation should be left to an expert.”

 

Along with him, my gaze turned toward the table where interrogation tools were placed.

 

“Yamyeong.”

 

At my call, one of the pliers on the table moved, then with a pop sound, Yamyeong revealed himself.

 

“…”

 

The Association President looked back and forth between me and Yamyeong as if dumbfounded.

 

I shrugged my shoulders.

 

“This is our Guild Member who specializes in interrogation. This isn’t your first meeting, is it?”

 

While people might have difficulty infiltrating, an elusive goblin would be different, wouldn’t it?

 

***

 

“I will now begin the interrogation.”

 

With those words, Yamyeong slowly walked toward Yoo Seong-ho.

 

Yamyeong snapped his fingers and spoke in a low voice.

 

“Dream Journey to Peach Blossom Land.”

 

That was the moment.

 

With a snap sound, ink spurted out from Yamyeong’s snapped fingers.

 

The ink instantly covered the prison, and when I came to my senses, the place we were standing was the canola flower field I had seen before.

 

‘So this is how it’s used.’

 

It was Yamyeong’s Unique Ability that he had used during our first meeting.

 

Yamyeong brought a chair and sat in front of Yoo Seong-ho, then calmly asked a question.

 

“How did you achieve Re-Awakening?”

 

Yoo Seong-ho began to move his mouth wordlessly.

 

Soon his eye mask came undone and his gaze turned toward midair.

 

His eyes were unfocused, and ripples formed above his gaze.

 

One side of the canola flower field was torn away, and a different scene was played back.

 

— A narrow goshiwon, the image of him clutching his cell phone on an old bed, checking loan records.

His eyes, buried under a mountain of debt, were trembling.

 

“I needed money…”

 

Yoo Seong-ho’s mouth opened on its own.

 

“And then?”

 

“I heard rumors that I could gain the power of an A-rank Hunter…”

 

The scene changed rapidly.

This time a dark alley was drawn.

A gloomy clinic.

Under bright lights, a strange man smiled and said.

 

“It’s a simple procedure. Just close your eyes for a moment and when you open them, you’ll be an A-rank Hunter.”

 

‘How ridiculous.’

 

Was he driven to such a cliff’s edge that he would believe such words?

No, being driven to the cliff’s edge was something he had brought upon himself.

 

‘Gambling…’

 

I couldn’t even curse.

 

Yamyeong increased the frequency of his finger snapping.

 

The memories rode the current and flowed rapidly.

 

Scenes of him recklessly running dungeons to pay off debts.

Scenes of him returning to the clinic for periodic ‘adjustment’ procedures.

And scenes of him killing all the Raid Members in a rampage state because he hadn’t received adjustment procedures.

…

The rapidly passing scenes ended with a familiar flaming fist striking directly at his face.

 

“Tsk.”

 

I clicked my tongue briefly.

 

What a truly foolish bastard.

 

A C-rank Hunter who makes decent money, yet he ruined his family by falling into gambling.

 

Not stopping there, he entrusted his body to a procedure that even elementary school students wouldn’t believe.

 

As a result, even a department store terror incident occurred.

 

In any case, I gained quite a lot.

 

‘The Night Bright Interrogation Technique is certainly useful.’

 

Though it was a brief moment, what the doctor held in his hand was a Ghost Stone.

 

‘As expected, it was related to the Cult.’

 

I let out a short breath.

 

This time, it seemed I could definitely catch their tail.

 

A plan quickly formed in my mind.

 

After organizing my thoughts like that, I turned my head to look at the Association President.

 

“You haven’t released the Yoo Seong-ho article yet… right?”

 

***

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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